Ohio governor candidates talk about trade during interviews

Two candidates for Ohio governor weighed in on the issue of the so-called trade war with China Thursday. Republican Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor and Democrat and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neil are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Continuing the conversation with Ohio's six major candidates, retired WKYC-TV senior political correspondent Tom Beres interviewed Republican Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor for the University of Akron.

"I support what the President is trying to do to," she said regarding trade.

"I am generally a free market capitalist, but I will tell you being a free market capitalist, presumes that there's a level playing field and for too many years the United States has not been on a level playing field when you look at our trade with China and the trade deficit that we have," Taylor stated.

The other candidate interviewed Thursday does not see eye to eye with Taylor. Bill O'Neil, a former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and a Democratic candidate for governor, feels that in the short term there may be benefits to the President's tariffs on steel and aluminum but in the long run trade wars would mean unemployment in Ohio.

"He is on real real dangerous ground right now with these trade wars he's about to start. Ohio is an agricultural state. We grow things and we export things. We're about to be hit with trade barriers from our trading partners, he's a very dangerous man," commented O'Neil.

Both candidates were also asked what they think is the biggest problem facing Ohio. Taylor said the workforce and that we don't have the people trained to take the jobs that exist. O'Neil, who is also a retired nurse, said the opioid crisis.

Interviews will continue Friday with Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich but you can find the full interviews with candidates on our Website.

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